It had been three years since my last visit to St Chad’s CE Primary so it was lovely to return.
The first day kicked off with an author assembly. I shared the books and explained how they are created from scratch. The children formed a top audience and it was a pleasure to share my writing adventure. To finish the session, I put on the storytelling waistcoat to share one of the Tales. The pupils laughed in all the right places – fantastic!
To finish the first morning, I spent time with Year 5 and 6 pupils. We looked at ‘showing not telling’ by creating a character description. The children’s ideas were brilliant and it was an absolute pleasure to write with them. I went home worn out but energised by the children’s energy and enthusiasm.
Day two started in Year 3. The pupils had read one of the Tales and their challenge was to rewrite the ending, creating their own version. The pupils ideas and energy blew my mind! It was great to hear lots of creative thoughts. After bullet pointing their plans, I left them to write and headed to Year 4 to repeat the session. After hearing more fantastic ideas, I left the children to write their endings.
It was lovely to hear some of the first drafts later in the week when I popped back for a book signing. The writing was fantastic and I loved listening as the pupils read extracts to me.
I had a fantastic time at St Chad’s and I’d like to thank Mrs Hopwood and Mrs Shrewsbury for organising the visits.